Bland undenatured soybean flakes by alcohol washing and flash desolventizing

The conditions for removing the beany and bitter flavor from defatted soybean meal with ethanol and isopropyl alcohol were investigated. In the presence of alcohols, soybean protein is extremely sensitive to denaturation when temperature, moisture, and residence time are increased. If protein is to be isolated in good yield and quality, retention of the original, high watersolubility is important, and denaturation must be kept to a minimum. Defatted soybean flakes were successfully debittered by countereurrent washing with aqueous alcohols on a pilot-plant scale, and the entrained solvent was recovered by flash desolventizing without excessive denaturation of protein. Effective debittering was obtained with 95 volume percentage ethanol and 91 volume percentage isopropyl alcohol whereas satisfactory flavor was not obtained with absolute ethanol. The solubility of the nitrogenous compounds in the meal product (Nitrogen Solubility Index—NSI=water-soluble nitrogen×100÷ total nitrogen) was maintained at 68 NSI, or higher, regardless of the solvent system or conditions used when starting with 80 NSI defatted flakes. Residual alcohol in the desolventized products was reduced to 1–2% with the aqueous alcohol system and to less than 1% for the absolute alcohol system. Lower residual values can be obtained by recycling the material through the desolventizing unit. The desolventizing system described is simple, low in cost, and should be useful in any process requiring the rapid removal of solvent from residual solids where heat-sensitive constituents are present.